Adventures in Berlin

We began our trip around Germany with Berlin, which has somehow wound up being one of our favourite cities despite it snowing heavily most of the time we were there. The place has some pretty heavy history, but also a feeling of youth and optimism for the future. We were only able to get a brief glimpse of the alternative scene in Berlin due to the weather, but it seems like such an exciting place to be young and creative.

Thankfully Berlin has some fascinating museums to shelter in, and we spent hours exploring the Pergamon museum with some amazing artefacts from Turkey and a beautiful collection of Islamic art.

One thing that came through from the walking tour around the city, and a tour to the nearby Sachsenhausen concentration camp, is that Germany doesn’t shy away from its role in history. It is acknowledged, examined, learned from and taught to future generations (and travellers like ourselves). I don’t think I could call our visit to the concentration camp or the Topography of Terror museum enjoyable, but I feel like it was important to experience.

I really feel like we only barely brushed the surface of what Berlin has to offer – it’s one of the places that I really need to return to with more time and better weather!

Foodie Notes:

We chatted to a local couple and asked where to go for great German food – they said to go to Bavaria. Berlin has a lot of virtues, but apparently local cuisine is not one of them.

On the other hand, with the very multicultural population it’s a good place to get some decent Asian food!